By Jhoo Dong-chanThe nation's securities and asset management firms are rushing to buy foreign real estate assets as part of efforts to diversify their revenue portfolios.Of domestic financial companies, Mirae Asset Daewoo has been the most active player investing in overseas real estate markets.Mirae Asset Daewoo said Thursday it was named as one of the investors to underwrite a mezzanine debt worth 280 billion won ($243 million) of the Golden Financial Center in Kowloon Bay, a district the Hong Kong government has been developing as the new central business district with a total investment of 34 trillion won.

Built on a gross floor area of 900,000 square feet, the 27-story landmark building is owned by Goldin Financial Holdings Chairman Pan Sutong. It also received a Platinum certification, the highest level, from the U.S. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.This isn't the first time the brokerage has invested in a real estate asset in Hong Kong. Mirae Asset also invested 340 billion won in a collateralized bond obligation to finance the 5.5 trillion won acquisition of skyscraper The Center there last year.Mirae Asset also strengthened its presence in other countries for investing in foreign real estate recently. It took over Keangnam Landmark 72 building in Hanoi, Vietnam for 400 billion won in 2016 and a logistics center of the U.S. FedEx in the following year. It also invested $95 million in Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas, 380 billion won in Cannon Bridge House in London and $78 million in Amazon's distribution center in Atlanta last year.In March, Mirae also led a consortium to acquire the Tour Majunga building, a landmark building located in La Defense district in Paris. Built in 2014, Tour Majunga is the fourth tallest building in France and has been mostly leased out to global names of accounting and consulting firms under long-term contracts.Following Mirae Asset's lead, other securities and asset management firms also invested a massive amount of money in real estate assets in Paris.According to industry circles, a consortium of Hanwha Investment & Securities and Samsung SRA Asset Management was recently named as the preferred buyer for an equity interest in the Lumiere building in Paris.Hana Financial Investment, a brokerage unit of Hana Financial Group, has also acquired Le Cristalia, an eight-story office building in Paris, from Tishman Speyer for 220 billion won last month."All the nation's financial firms are eyeing the global real estate market in a bid to diversify their revenue portfolio," said a Nomura Securities official."Korea's financial market is believed to be pretty saturated. Stock markets in advanced economies have shown a fluctuation due to the prolonged trade dispute between the U.S. and China. Considering the overseas real estate market guarantees a stable return in the long term, domestic firms are purchasing foreign buildings."